see also

“We came into supply/demand balance in January,” he said. The Cupertino, Calif., company also broke revenue records for the Apple Watch, its Mac line and Services division, it said.

Services, which includes the App Store, Apple Pay and Apple Music, led the product categories with an 18 percent gain. With revenue already at $7.2 billion, Cook said, the division would become the size of a Fortune 100 company by year-end.

The iPad was the quarter’s only laggard among products, posting a 19 percent decline in unit sales.

Of the company’s five geographic segments, four recorded revenue gains. Japan led the way with a 20 percent revenue pop, while Greater China, with a 12 percent sales slip, served as the exception.

Cook acknowledged challenges in China but attributed much of the quarter’s downturn to extenuating circumstances.

The CEO even waxed poetic about the AirPods, which Apple introduced in September but couldn’t put before the public until December.

Although initially an object of derision — for their design as well as delays in reaching the market — AirPods are delivering a “magical experience,” Cook said.